Throughout the entire political race, there has been quite a lot of media coverage of the violence that tends to surround Trump rallies. In fact, during the Iowa caucuses back in February, Donald Trump actually said that he’d pay for a lawyer for whoever “knocked the crap” out of the anti-Trump protesters that were present (See video below). So why is upholding “law and order” so important to him and his platform, yet when it comes to extreme Trump supporters engaging in physical altercations with other people, that value goes right out the window?

Regardless of whether Trump is right in defending his supporters, the “law and order” policies actually matter to a lot of people. If Trump wants the vote from people who have been affected by police violence, high crime rates, and other injustices in the United States, he needs to quit talking the talk and start walking the walk. If Trump wants to create a compelling narrative for himself as the “Law and Order Candidate”, he needs to adjust his rhetoric in a way that reflects that story. Rather than bragging about sexual assault or promoting violence at his own rallies, Trump needs to show his constituents that he values and upholds the law rather than hiring lawyers to find its loopholes.

This weekend at a Donald Trump Rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, Trump spotted a sign we admittedly don’t see too often. The sign read “Latinas For Trump” and Mr. Trump actually stopped what he was saying to bring the woman with the sign up on the stage. The Latina woman, after stating that she was from Mexico, then started to speak about why she would be voting for Trump in November and it was because he is for law and order when it comes to legal immigration into the United States.

After a few seconds of her overexcited babbling about how much money Trump claims illegal immigrants take away from our government, Trump embraces her and claims that she said it better than he could have.

Watch the video here. 

From a rhetorical perspective, I think it was smart to point out the Latina woman and bring her up on stage because it provides a tangible anecdote. Rather than just saying “Oh Latinas for Trump, we are doing so well with the Latinos!” like Trump normally does, he got a short story from this woman and people were able to put a face to the claim.

I also found it very interesting that in the video, you could see that there were signs that said “Gays for Trump” and “Women for Trump” and that they all seemed to be placed near the front (or at least in front of the camera angle”. Could this be strategic? It seems like Trump is trying to win back the people he has marginalized in the past. This may not be an October surprise, but these signs in the front row of a Trump rally sure did astound me!

Back in 1989, five black teenage men were wrongfully accused and charged with raping a female jogger in Central Park, the conversation around the Central Park Five spread like wildfire and soon everyone was talking about the case. Donald Trump took it upon himself to buy out the front page of the New York Times with a headline that read “Bring Back The Death Penalty” because he believed that the men accused of raping the woman should be sentenced to death. Since then, the men have been proven innocent. Years later, Trump is running in the 2016 election as the self-proclaimed “Law and order candidate” and no– he still has not accepted the exoneration of these men. He often speaks to the violence and crime in cities and how they can be assuaged with greater police force. 

I think it can be agreed upon that Trump has not been the best at sticking with a stance on a particular issue. We have seen him evolve and waver on many topics such as the “ban all Muslims” stunt he pulled earlier in the campaign trail. However, his stances on our criminal justice system in the United Stated has remained unchanged. This is one of the few instances that we have seen actual consistency from Trump.

We even saw Trump send open support during the 90s to New York mayor Rudy Giuliani for implementing “stop and frisk” and other police crack down methods. He still talks about this today and how it allegedly lowered the crime rates in the city.

To think about Trump’s stance in a communicative way, this is about a narrative. Trump’s narrative on law and order didn’t begin when the campaign did or during any particular event. It seems very consistent throughout his adult life, and that is reassuring for a lot of people.

This past July in Dallas, a protest against recent police brutality in Louisiana and Minnesota became violent when 5 police officers were killed by a sniper shooter. It was confirmed that the shooter was acting alone and not a part of this initially peaceful protest. In response, Donald Trump posted a video to his Facebook page calling for national unity in order to “Make America Safe Again”.

Now, Trump actually handled the situation pretty strategically, because a campaign speech was scheduled for that day, but he cancelled it out of respect for the victims’ and their loved ones. In addition to the video, he also issued a sizable statement about the attacks which included this quote: “Our nation has become too divided. Too many Americans feel like they’ve lost hope. Crime is harming too many citizens. Racial tensions have gotten worse, not better. This isn’t the American Dream we all want for our children.”.

Rhetorically, as a candidate for change, it was a good move to bring up the American Dream and the notion of lost hope. The American Dream theme is to make a better life for yourself and the next generation, and I think it’s a point of common understanding for a lot of Americans.

Perhaps ironically, the point of the protest in which these people were injured and killed was to express disdain for the shootings of the black men in Louisiana and Minnesota. The demonstrators were actively trying to make a better life for themselves and the next generation by protesting and demanding justice. The demonstrators were clinging on to their hope and fighting for their equal rights in regards to law enforcement.

Even though Trump was most likely speaking to conservatives who were deeply saddened at the loss of our law enforcement officials about law and order, racial tensions, and safety, a lot of people that are also seriously concerned with their future and their “American Dream” are the people who are suffering from the racial injustices that plague our society today.

This August, Donald Trump spoke in West Bend, Wisconsin after anti-police riots in Milwaukee had broken out the week before. The riots, a response to the shooting of 23-year-old Sylville Smith by a police officer, took a violent turn resulting in gunshot, arson, and several injured police officers and rioters.

Trumps resounding response? Law and Order. And he doesn’t forget to throw the democratic incumbents Clinton and Obama under the bus, no he doesn’t! He makes claims that the Democratic Party says that they care about African Americans and Black Lives Matter, but that Clinton, on her throne of untrustworthiness, doesn’t truly care about their well-being. He claims that Clinton is all talk, but “I will be your fighter. Believe me, I will be your fighter.” In his speech he also says, “Law and order must be restored. It must be restored for the sake of all, but most especially, for the sake of those living in the affected communities…the main victims of these riots are law abiding African American citizens, living in these neighborhoods. It’s their jobs, it’s their homes, it’s their schools, it’s their communities which will suffer the most as a result.” He also calls for more policemen.

But does more police equal more protection? Does “law and order” mean the same thing to African American voters as it would mean to Trump’s white constituency? Perhaps not. Unfortunately, many black citizens in America today do not associate the words “law and order” with peace and protection, but rather systematic racism, gun violence, and countless deaths of their loved ones in the black community. So, Trump’s pro-police stance during this speech ended up further alienating black voters.

See Trump’s speech in West Bend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dug6gObGsk